Indianapolis, Ind – The Youngstown State men's basketball team got off to a hot start, staved off an IU Indy run and ran away with a 78-55 win on Saturday at The Jungle.

The Penguins improve to 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the Horizon League while IU Indy falls to 3-8 overall and 0-2 in league action.

Rich Rolf led four players scoring in double figures with 20 points while senior Cris Carroll poured in 17 points, Imanuel Zorgvol had 11 points, and Bryson Dawkins added 10 points.

The Penguins shot an impressive 56.3 percent from the field in the first half and went 12-for-24 from the floor in the second half.

Youngstown State jumped out to an early 11-4 advantage just four minutes into the game, keyed by 3-pointers by layups by Dawkins, Nelson, two by Rolf and a 3-pointer by Zorgvol.

The Penguins built their lead to 12, 22-10, after a Zorgvol alley-oop dunk midway through the half.

The Jaguars answered with six straight points before the Penguins scored the next six on a 3 by Rolf, a jumper by Jaiden Haynes and a free throw by Vlad Salaridze.

YSU lead 28-16, but IU Indy used a 10-0 run over a 1:34 span to get within two, 28-26, with 5:15 before halftime.

Jaguars cut score to 32-30 but YSU closed out the half on a 10-0 run to take a 42-30 lead at the intermissions.  Layups by Salaridze and Rolf and a 3-pointer by Dawkins pushed the YSU lead back to nine 39-30 with 1:49 remaining in the first half.

Cris Carroll added a free throw and a driving layup to close out the first half scoring.

Youngstown State scored the first 11 points of the second half and 13 of the first 16 to take a 22-point lead, 55-33, with 15:53 remaining.

The Penguins extended their lead to 23 points, 65-42, at the 11:52 mark, but over the next 3:52 the Jaguars scored seven straight to cut the YSU advantage down to 16, 65-49, at the third media timeout.

A dunks by Micah Davis got the Jaguars within 14, 65-51, at the 7:05 mark, but Carroll hit a 3-pointer and a hook shot to push the lead back 19, 70-51, and the Penguins never looked back.

Youngstown State hosts Thiel, Sunday, Dec14. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.